You Were Waiting
by KGrint
Summary: Bella Swan had her heart broken a lot over the last 10 years...and all because she didn't realize what..or who..was always waiting. AU / All Human.
1. Find Me Somebody To Love

A/U: As an obvious note; I do not own Twilight or any of the recognizable characters from the series. I just like to play with them :)

So, this is my first shot at a Twilight story and it's going to be a long one. This story will go from Bella's 8th grade year allllll the way through her early twenties. This is actually based on real life but not everything is verbatim to what really happened. (It wouldn't be as exciting.)

This is my second try on publishing this story because the first time, it wouldn't show up when I searched for it. So here it is :)

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**You Were Waiting**

You were always there, even if I didn't really realize it. For almost 10 years you were right under my nose. But that's how it usually goes, isn't it? You search and search for "the one" or you trick yourself in to thinking, "when you're not looking, that's when it will happen". But what's really happening is he's right there, he's your best friend, and he's waiting. You were waiting…

_December 18__th__, 2001_

Here I am, Bella Swan, musician extraordinaire… NOT. Why am I auditioning to be in the musical instead of in the orchestra for it? I don't really know. I've never heard of this play, "Kilroy Was Here" but there's swing dancing and it's based in WWII, I think that's pretty interesting. But maybe fate is playing with me and wants me to try something new for some reason. Last year I played in the orchestra and I had only started playing percussion the year before, and now I am managing to be the 'section leader' of the percussion. I mean that's pretty big right? The directors want me to join the 'pit' percussion next year in High School. They personally asked for me. That's also pretty big…right?

Being clumsy is what brought me to being a 'bando'. I was in to all the sports I could for the small town of Forks. Basketball, softball, and cheerleading were all sports I could do. I was good at them, I excelled, always made the team. But then, I tore my meniscus and had to quit. I couldn't make the JV cheering squad because of that, so I completely quit all my sports and kept with band. Band was just to tie me over instead of doing 'study period' at the beginning of the day. But, I guess I liked it.

Anyway, this whole auditioning for the musical was kind of a last minute decision. My friend Angela is auditioning and didn't want to do it alone. So, being the nice persuaded type of person I am, I came with her last night to the first auditions. I made it to the second round, surprisingly. Tonight is the singing part and I can't tell you how nervous I am. To pass the time, Angela and I check out boys. I mean, we ARE 14 and our homework is done for the night since we've been waiting a while to take our turn. What else is there to do?!

I'm not really expecting much here, in the department of boys. I've known most of these people since we were 5. Another elementary school joined with ours for the 6th grade when funding wasn't good enough to keep both open separately. So, I didn't know everyone, but I knew mostly everyone. It's not too hard in this small of a town. The only boys you really needed to know of anyway were Mike, Eric, Tyler, Ben, and maybe a few more in the 8th grade. But that's about it and all of them either had girlfriends or they were not the type you really wanted as your boyfriend.

So, Angela's trying to find me a boyfriend out of the slim pickings here in the 'middle school' as the Forks School District likes to call it.

"How about that one, Bella?" Angela says, pointing to a boy with dark hair and blue eyes, a little chubby, and we don't know his name.

"Next," is my reply.

"How about that one," she tries again; pointing to the other side of the room to a boy who's got way too much acne to even decipher where his face is.

"You're kidding. Right, Ang?" I look skeptically at her. She looks guilty. She's not kidding. Are we really this desperate?

We sit for a few minutes, scanning the crowd of pre-pubescent boys that are our choices. We don't really need boyfriends, but it'd be nice to have one. The last dance of the semester before break IS coming up. I mean, it'd be nice to have someone to dance with instead of sitting in the stands in the gym, pining away like an immature, bratty, lon-

"There," Angela practically shouts, although it's really just a whisper.

"Where?," I ask brusquely. She's not pointing anywhere, just staring.

I slowly turn my head to the right, where Angela seems to be entranced with somebody. And that's when I see him. Who is that? I've never seen him before. I start my adventure of his gorgeousness from the top of his head and make my way down. His oddly colored but beautiful bronze-red-brown…whatever hair is perfect. How does he get it to look like that?! It looks like he just rolled out of bed, but at the same time it looks like it's been styled. Impossible. His eyes are the most gorgeous blue-green I have ever seen. What boy has blue green eyes?! Then there's his nose, his lips, his chin. Yes, I said chin. Maybe I mean his jaw. What 13 or 14 year old boy has a defined jaw?! This one apparently. And I am nowhere near finished.

There seems to be a curve to his neck. One of which I have never seen. Then there's the shirt he's wearing which seems to be over a nicely shaped body. Is he really only 13 or 14?! Maybe he's a guy from the High School here to help out with auditions. But, he looks nervous. And, oh god, he's looking at me.

"Angela," I whisper in a panic.

"What?" I think she's in a daze.

"Angela, he's noticed us." I whisper back hastily. And oh god, he's coming this way.

Angela sits up abruptly, her eyes shooting back and forth between us and the boy with the perfect body that's coming our way. Is he looking at us both or is he just looking at me? Psh, yea right.

Oh. My. God. He's standing in front of me…what do I do, what do I say?! He helps me out.

"Hi, I'm Edward." The boy-god says.

I stare at him for a good few more seconds, am I drooling?

Boy-g- I mean Edward, is starting to look a little worried. Maybe I should talk.

"H-he-hello, Edward," I reply. Man, I'm lame.

"Hi," he says again, with the most gorgeous lop-sided grin to ever grace the world on his face. To ever grace the world?! Get a grip on yourself, Bella.

"I-I'm…I'm Bella," I finally get those words out of my mouth. Oh God.

"Well, hello Bella, very nice to meet you," Edward, the boy-god replies.

"N-nice to mee-meet you too, Edward," yay, I got more than two words out of my stupid, stupid mouth.

"Are you nervous to audition for the musical? I am too. I'm actually new here this year, along with my brother and sister. I don't know anyone." Boy-god Edward replies. Should I stop calling him boy-god? That's really sweet that he's nervous though, and no wonder I've never seen him around. He's new. And oh yea, Angela is still staring wide-eyed at our dear boy-god. I mean Edward!

"B…Edward…um… this is my friend, Angela." I finally point out. Smooth, Swan…smooth. Don't blow your cover.

Angela perks up again and shuts her mouth that's been hanging open like a flytrap.

"Hi!," she practically shouts. Scaring not only Edward, but herself and me too.

Edward thankfully laughs and then smiles. Angela blushes, and I just stare at boy-g….Edward. Man, I hope he's not dating someone.

Angela finally pipes up with more than a stumbled word; unfortunately it's not what I expected her to say.

"So, Edward…um…do you have a girlfriend or um.. anything?" Angela asks.

Oh. Good. God.

"Um…wh-what?" The boy-god can stumble over words too!

"Girlfriend. Do you have one," Angela asks again. Where did she get confidence like that?! Where is my best friend, and what have you done with her boy-god?!

"Um…no…I don't actually," Edward the boy-god replies. Really gotta stop calling him that. He can't be a god if he's nervous, which he obviously is. He's rubbing he back of his neck and biting his lip, and his cheeks are a little flushed. Man, he's adorable.

Angela breaks in again, "So…um…do you want a girlfriend? The dance is coming up on Friday and Bella here doesn't have a date." Angela then smiles pretty evilly at me. And I can't decide if I want to kiss her or beat the living daylights out of her.

Edward then turns to me and seems to be checking me out for the first time, and I can't tell if he does or doesn't like what he sees. But, he does start to smile. Maybe, there is hope for the lonely, clumsy Bella Swan! Edward locks eyes with me and blushes a little, and I just want to kiss him….where did that come from!?

"Well," Edward clears his throat, "um, would you like to be my...uh…um…girl-girlfriend…Bella," he finishes.

WHAT?! Did I hear him right? Are my ears tricking me? What's that buzzing sound? Am I gripping Angela's arm? Yes, yes I am.

"Um...uh...well…umm…," I cough a little to clear my throat. "You don't ... um... don-don't have to ask me if you don't wa-want to…Edward," I reply…quite stupidly. Really, how bad could this get? Am I a charity case?!

Edward's eyes almost bug out of his head. "No,..no. No...I mean yes, I mean…" he rambles on. What is the kid trying to say?!

He starts again, "I mean... yes I want to ask you, Be-Bella," He smiles at me. Or is that a grimace? He's so shy! Wait, did he just really ask me to be his girlfriend?!

"Wait, did you just really ask me to be your girlfriend?," oops, didn't mean for that to actually come out.

"Ye-yes Bella. Um…would you like to? It's okay if you don't want to. I mean we don't really know each other. I mean, but you're…um...you're really … uhmm… just say yes or no. Please," …wow…boy-god just had a break down. He's so…perfect.

"Yes, Edward. Yes, I'll be your girlfriend," my mouth moves for me, instead of my brain. Edward smiles completely. I couldn't confuse that look for disappointment even if I wanted to.

Edward is my boyfriend! I have a boyfriend! Oh my god!!

Now…what the heck is behind all the pretty!?....Crap.

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So...what'dya think? :) Leave a review, I'll update quicker...chapter 2 is in the works :)


	2. Drops of Jupiter

A/N: So, if you've made it this far..Thankyou. I'm not sure how this story will be received but it's my first shot at trying to write again after a very long hiatus. Let me know what you think.

Again, I do not own Twilight or any of the recognizable characters. That's Miss Meyer's job. I do however, own Boy-God.

This chapter takes off right where we left off.

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Getting to know Edward is easy as pie. He's funny, intelligent, and shy just like I am. He used to live in Chicago with his parents and 2 brothers. They moved here because his father got the newly emptied job at our hospital here in Forks. His father couldn't seem to move up the rungs in Chicago and finally found his calling here. His mother wanted a new house to play with anyway because of her love for interior design and they both got their wishes.

Edward's brother's names are Jasper and Emmett. Jasper and Edward are twins but look nothing alike and his brother Emmett is the grade above us and already in the High School. Jasper is also in to music and has apparently been in the band this entire school year. I never noticed him till Edward pointed him out.

The day of the dance came at us in lightening speed. I was a little nervous because Edward's and my relationship so far hadn't exactly been sunshine and daisies. These girls, Lauren and Tanya, were apparently Edward's first friends when he moved here this summer. He's really close with this Tanya girl and they apparently tried dating a little but it didn't work out. They say they're best friends. Tanya always gives me nasty looks in the hallway and tries to be all over Edward when ever she gets the chance. On top of that I have to hide the fact that I'm dating Edward from my mother because she would have a hissy fit and I really don't want that. So Edward and I talked on the phone for about five minutes the last two nights and learned a few things about each other. We both play piano and have been playing music since a young age. It's nice to have something like that in common.

So all day during school I was kind of a nervous wreck. Edward didn't look any better either. Not that he didn't LOOK good…he's freakin' gorgeous..but I mean, he looked a little frazzled. He told me he'd meet me in the gym later that night and I was obviously excited. What girl wouldn't be excited to go to a dance with their boyfriend who is THAT perfect?! Hmm…?! Boy-God= my boyfriend. _Squee!! _Ehem…sooo as I was saying… I was meeting Edward in the gym. What made me really excited was what his reaction would be to finally seeing me all dressed up.

Picking out a dress for the dance was kind of easy. Being only 14 and having good genes works in my favor when I try to find clothing. I fit in to anything. So when I saw the dress in the window at the Deb in Port Angeles that I wanted…I knew I had to have it. It was little short, but really only came down about an inch or two above my knees and had spaghetti straps. It was turquoise and sparkly and perfect for the dance.

My mom helped me with my make up, which is really only a little eye shadow, because what 14 year old girl needs a lot of make up!? I don't. My mom also did my hair in long curls for my brown hair. It hangs down to my mid back so it takes a while, but it looked pretty good. I was also wearing one inch heels that match my dress. Edward might be taller than me, but not by much. I'm a little tall for my age as it is.

All the girls I've known since I was in nappies come over every time there is a dance. It's been that way since the 6th grade and we all take pictures to appease our mothers. All of us aren't really all that close but we're sort of friends. My friend Jessica and I have been really close since last year and she's my main confidant. Angela refuses to go to dances because she really likes Ben, but he won't date her. I tell her every single time that she should come to a dance just to see what happens but she refuses to do it. She wished me luck with Edward though and told me to thank her later for her help in bringing us together. She thinks she' funny.

Anyway, back to my friends. We all piled in to my mother's car and drove the mile and a half to the Middle School after taking what seemed like hundreds of pictures. I was starting to get more nervous and the radio station's theme every Friday night was a party mix so that wasn't helping my nerves. I didn't know why I was so nervous.

Once we were inside the cafeteria where everyone keeps their coats, the girls and I started to walk toward the gym, and that's when I saw him… Edward. Is. So. CUTE! He looked like he had actually tried to do something with his gloriously messy hair but failed, and the button up shirt he was wearing was to die for. He matched me. He was also wearing khaki pants and some sort of shoe…but that didn't really matter. Did I mention he's adorable?!

That's when Edward cleared his throat and I realized I was standing right in front of him, staring.

"Bella," Edward kind of whispered.

"Hi, Edward," I beamed back at him. How could I not beam when he looked like that?!

"You look..," Edward moved his eyes from my face down my body in what looked like slow-mo and then back up quickly when he realized I was looking. He cleared his throat. "Pretty," he finished with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Thanks," I replied shyly. I couldn't help it. He was making me blush too. "You look…um…," what word do you use for a boy-god to his face?! "Handsome," I finished. He laughed nervously.

We make such a good couple, all nervous together and what not. Did you note my sarcasm?

"Thanks," he replied just as shyly after a few seconds. "Um…do you want to…um…," he started making motions with his arms that made no sense to me. "Do you want to dance," he stammered out in one jumbled sentence. I wasn't even sure I heard him right. But I nodded.

We eventually wound up near the DJ's stand with a few of our mutual friends around us. We all danced along to Destiny's Child and LFO. Edward would dance real close to me and put his hands on my hips, which he'd not done since we started dating a few days ago. Which is totally fine, but this was awesome! Edward and I weren't as provocative as some of our other classmates like the popular kids. They were all doing some sort of… grinding I guess you called it, and trying to make out without being caught.

About an hour in to the dance we were all a little thirsty and needed a break so we went out in to the hallway. Edward's friends and his brother Jasper, who I had just officially met, went to get us drinks from the snack stand outside the gym and us girls went to the cafeteria to grab our make up quick.

When we came out of the cafeteria we saw that the boys weren't by the snack stand anymore and looked further down the hallway for them. And that's when I had my first spark of jealousy.

Standing near the library, which seemed too far away right now, was Edward, surrounded by a few of his friends, and this girl he told me about. This girl's name was Samantha. She goes to his church and is in his youth group and has the hugest obsessive crush on him. He obviously doesn't feel the same way, and I don't blame him. She's overly nuts about him.

And that explained why she was clinging to his arm and he was desperately searching around for something with his eyes. He turned his head and locked eyes with me and that's when I knew I needed to do my job. _Protect the boy-god._

"Jess," I said in a panic. That caught her attention pretty quickly.

"What's wrong Bella," she asked quickly.

"See Edward," I gave her time to look. "See that girl that's clinging to his arm," I gave her another few seconds to look. "I'm about to put her in her place, no one is allowed to hit on MY boyfriend," I finished with so much authority in my voice I didn't even recognize myself.

Jessica nodded once and held out her hand. She knew me so well. I bent down and took off my shoes and handed them to her and without a second glance, started to run down the hallway.

I reached Edward in record time and as soon as I was at his side I put my arm around his waist and rested my head on his shoulder. Now, we weren't really in to the PDA part of our relationship yet, but I don't think he minded much if it meant getting Samantha off his back.

When I finally tuned in to the actual conversation and not just the body language of everyone, I heard the worst whining I'd ever heard in my short life.

"But, but…Edwarddddddd," the obsessed whined, "I thought we were friends, I thought we had something, I like you so muuuuuch, "she CONTINUED to whine.

"Sam," Edward replied in the tersest, clipped tone I'd heard from him yet. "I have not, don't want, and will not want a dance with you. See Bella here? She's my girlfriend, I'm at this dance with her, and will continue to be at dances with her. Do I make myself clear? There is no chance, Sam." He finished. And was I ever glad he was not talking like that to me. I almost felt bad for "Sam"….almost.

Samantha then sniffled so hard I thought she'd suck in the people around us and then tears started to well up in her eyes. She blinked a few times and turned her glossy eyes toward me.

"I. Hate. You," she said angrily. Then without another word, she turned on her heal and ran away wailing. Seriously, wailing. I might have scoffed.

Edward turned to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me. I smiled. _Dang does he smell good_.

"Thank you Bella. I owe you, big time," he gave me a gentle squeeze then let me go.

"I did what I had to do to rescue my boyfriend, " I grinned at him. Then, he took my hand and led me back in to the gym.

Our friends followed behind and we wound up where we were before. With all the drama that had just occurred, we only had about half an hour left to the dance. All the lights were out like any other dance but it felt different with Edward there. Then, I noticed the song. We'd missed a good part of the dance and there hadn't been any slow songs while we were in the gym last, but now there was.

Edward turned to me shyly and gave me his gorgeous lop-sided grin. His eyes might have sparkled a little too.

"Dance," he asked simply. I nodded. And without any hesitation Edward put his arms around my waist, nuzzled his nose in to my neck and started swaying to Train's Drops of Jupiter. I loved this song before, but now I loved it even more.

I put my arms up and around Edward's shoulders and crossed my arms behind his back and rested my head on his shoulder. I'd never danced this close with a boy before. My last boyfriend, heck; my only boyfriend and I had only ever done the typical "middle-school-arm's-length-apart" dance. So, this whole snuggled up to one another thing was new to me. But I was NOT complaining.

It was then that I realized I might love Edward.

**

After the dance Edward had hugged me and we all split ways for the break. Over Christmas break, Edward and I hadn't hung out but we did talk on the phone a few times. He told me again how thankful he was that I had saved him from the wraths of obsessed-girl and then told me how much he liked going to the dance with me. He couldn't see me, but I was definitely blushing.

When school started back up again on January 7th we had a meeting for the musical. Edward and I had both made it along with Angela. Jasper had made it in to the pit orchestra. He was really good at clarinet.

Unfortunately for me though, Lauren had also made the musical. This made things very hard on me. Edward wasn't a mean person so he wasn't about to ignore one of his first friends in Forks but the girl was a little strange. I had known Lauren since we were very little and we had used to be friends but we grew apart as time went on and we were in different classes. But, we managed to be friendly with one another for Edward's sake and started to become friends again some how. It made a few things easier.

Throughout the month of January the entire company and chorus of the musical got together after school for 2 hours every few days. We learned swing dancing and learned all the songs we would be singing as a whole. What was really unfortunate about the cast was that there were more girls than guys. This led Mr. Banner to believe it was smart to dress some girls up as guys for the big swing production in Kilroy Was Here. I – was one of those _lucky_ girls.

Because of this, our friends ridiculed Edward and me. All the guys started calling Edward gay and saying I was some sort of gender-freak. They were saying Edward was gay because he was dating a "guy". It made me feel awful.

This all led to people _outside_ of the musical to start calling Edward gay, and made our lives pretty miserable.

Eventually, January came to an end and the more rigorous part of preparing for the musical began. The end of January also meant the beginning of February..which meant…

_Valentine's Day._

_

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_A/N: It was a lot of fun looking up songs from 2001, to see what would be played at a dance when I was in 8__th__ grade. I remember Jennifer Lopez and Destiny's Child quite clearly. Lol. Anyway, thankyou for reading if you've continued from the 1__st__ chapter. I know this story isn't very exciting cuz it's a bunch of 8__th__ graders but this will continue in to College and beyond. Drama WILL ensue. So Review, give me some criticism. _

_It makes boy-god grin lopsidedly. _


	3. A Moment Like This

A/N: To all those who have read, thank you. I'm having fun putting this story together since I'm doing it properly for the first time ever. Outlining has actually helped me so far and hopefully my writing will improve throughout. So, the sh*t is about to hit the fan. Not right now, but soon…poor boy-god.

As February started, the rumors about Edward still hadn't diminished. It didn't help matters that we had been dating now for a month and a half and all we ever did was hug. Apparently it's normal for kids our age to be kissing, but I didn't quite feel comfortable with it yet. Not that I didn't want to kiss Edward, but it just seemed too soon. My first kiss with my last … _only_…boyfriend didn't happen until we were together for 3 years.

So, that led us to how Edward and I were currently situated in the Middle School's auditorium waiting for musical rehearsal to begin. Everyone was forced to sit in the first few rows of the auditorium so Mr. Banner didn't have to shout instructions to us, but that didn't mean that Edward and I felt included. The only person who would sit next to me was Angela, and otherwise we were given a wide berth.

People were still saying that Edward was gay. Even thought _I _knew he wasn't, it didn't really matter much to everyone else. The boys gave Edward hell on a daily basis about his 'boyfriend' and how we were doing. I hoped they would stop the nonsense soon.

"Bella," Edward snapped me out of my train of thought.

I shifted my eyes to look at him and whispered, "Edward…"

"Um…I have a question," he whispered back.

I turned my head to look at him. "OK… go ahead…"

He squeezed my hand that he'd been holding for the last 20 minutes of our pointless meeting for the musical and blushed a little. I tried to smile encouragingly at him but it didn't seem to help.

"Edward…you can ask me anything..," I whispered, to try and get him to spit it out. I wanted him to trust me. We'd only been dating for a short time but I was already starting to have pretty strong feelings for him. So trust was a pretty big part of a healthy relationship, right? We talked every day after school and continuously asked each other questions and traded information we thought was important. I knew so much about him and there wasn't one thing yet that I didn't like about him. He was sweet, understanding, and had a very caring heart. What wasn't to like?

That's when Edward cleared his throat. "Um.. Bella, well…uhh… you know… um… well it's February," he shifted his eyes to look at me quickly since he'd been staring straight ahead. I nodded at him to continue with a smirk. _Very good Edward, you know your months. _He really need to stop his nervous ramblings, I wasn't going to bite….hard.

"And well…would you like to…mm…bemyValentine?" he rushed out in a gush of air. His fingers were gripping mine and he was using his other hand to grip his hair, it looked like it hurt. Poor boy-god.

"Edward," I whispered to him. He looked at me finally. "Of course I'll be your Valentine, I _am_ your girlfriend, silly," I replied.

He gave me his breath-taking crooked grin and squeezed my hand again and all his stress seemed to fade away. Was he perfect or what?

"Good," he replied before Mr. Banner cleared his throat and gave us a look and then continued his rambling, which neither of us had obviously been paying attention to.

**

Now, I had some issues with this whole Valentines Day thing, which I started to realize a little too late. While sitting back stage at rehearsal one night while the boys were doing their piece, Angela came and sat next to me and looked a little worried.

"Um, Bella…," she started.

"Hey Ang," I replied quickly, looking back down at my math homework.

"Bella, we need to talk," Angela said nervously.

I put my pencil down and looked at her.

"Bella, um… have you told your mom you're dating Edward yet," she asked.

Crap.

No, I hadn't. I was still too nervous to tell my mom even though she was starting to get suspicious.  
"Shoot Ang, I haven't. What am I gonna do? I need to get Edward a gift for Valentine's Day. But, I don't have money. I can't steal my mom's money. I don't know what to do. Oh my god. He's gonna break up with me cuz I won't be able to get him something. Angela I'm frea-"

"BELLA!," Angela interrupted…quite loudly, might I add. Lauren looked over at us with a strange look on her face.

"Bella," Angela added more quietly. "You can make him something, or maybe you should just tell your mom. I think she'd understand. You dated Kris for like 3 years and she never got upset about that. You're 14 now and about to go to High School. She'd have to know you'd be dating for real eventually." She smiled warmly.

Angela was right. I should just tell my mom. But maybe I'd just make something for Edward. Yea, I'd make something.

**  
The day of Valentine's Day came at us much like the dance had in December. Like lightening. I never told my mom I had a boyfriend and I sneakily made Edward a present.

The day started like any normal Thursday. It was freezing out so all of my friends and I met up in the cafeteria to wait before the first bell rang. Edward came and sat next to me and held my hand. I loved when he did that. He said, "Happy Valentine's Day," to me while we were sitting and smiled winningly at me. I blushed and returned the sentiment.

When the bell rang, Edward walked me to my locker and then we went to his and he continued to walk me to my first class and hug me. The school district ran on a 6 day system so extra classes weren't held every single day, but all got in an equal amount of time. So, on 'BDF' days, I had concert band during first period and on 'ACE' days I had plain homeroom. Today was one of those ACE days so I was sitting in a boring classroom finishing up some last minute homework. The door opened about half way through the class and one of the kids from Student Council walked in with a handful of carnations.

I didn't expect to get one because I never had and even though Edward was very sweet I didn't want to get my hopes up. That was until the kid called my name and I raised my hand and a carnation was set down on my desk. I might have grinned like a fool…might have.

When I finally built up the courage to look fully at my carnation I noticed first that it was white, my favorite and second, there was a card attached.

_**To**__: __Bella Swan__**Room**__: __210__**Grade**__: __8__th_

_**Message**__: __Bella, Happy Valentine's Day. This isn't your only gift but I wanted to get you one of these cuz a little birdie told me you've never gotten one. How dumb was your ex?! Anyway, see you at lunch and Happy Valentine's Day…again. 3, Edward_

I was actually really surprised that Edward had gotten me a carnation and that this wasn't going to be my only gift. Our relationship had continued to be bumpy with all the 'gay' rumors and I felt like he was avoiding moving our relationship along. Even though I didn't think kissing was necessary, I definitely did want to do that with Edward. Every day after school Edward seemed to be eating something with peanut butter in it. I…am allergic to peanut butter. He'd also hug me very quickly by my bus or after rehearsal and seem to scurry off before I could look at him afterwards.

I was determined to make today different…little did I know it'd be handled for me.

At lunch I of course sat next to Edward. Lauren and Tanya did not seem to be very happy that Edward and I were having such a good day. He held my hand the entire lunch period and held it all the way to my class after lunch. After school, we of course had rehearsal for the musical and Edward and I were pretty much inseparable. We planned to give each other our gifts afterwards.

Which, we did. Edward gallantly took me aside backstage once we were changed out of our costumes and handed me a gift bag with hearts all over it. He looked down at the ground and blushed before looking back up at me. I took out the tissue paper and looked inside the bag. Inside it was the cutest, softest, and pinkest stuffed bear I had ever seen. It was perfect.

"I didn't get you a card because I thought the carnation card was enough, I hope you don't mind," he said softly.

"That's okay Edward, I love it," I smiled at him and then hugged him. "Thankyou," I finished.

"You're welcome," he said.

Then I handed him the gift bag I had managed to sneak out of our closet at home. He opened the bag and took out the photo frame I had made him in workshop and had placed a photo of us in that Angela had printed out at Wal Mart for me.

It was of Edward and I sitting together at rehearsal, smiling for the camera. The frame was simple. Just wooden, with rounded corners and painted his favorite shade of green.

He smiled at me. "Thankyou, Bella," he said, then leaned over and hugged me tightly. "I love it," he said shyly. Why's he always shy?!

Once we were done and we realized the hall was basically empty, we said our goodbyes and headed out to go home. I waited in the cafeteria with Angela for my dad to come pick me up and Edward went to his locker quick before he left. Or so I thought.

Suddenly, Tanya and Lauren busted in to the cafeteria with Edward between them, holding his arms. He looked flustered and extremely embarrassed.

"Bella," Tanya greeted me coolly.

"Tanya," I retorted just as coolly. Grr.

"We decided it was time for us to step in here with yours and Edward's relationship," she said the word 'relationship' while making quotation marks with her fingers.

I just glared at her. Edward looked frightened.

Then, Tanya and Lauren pushed Edward towards me and said, "you know what to do," to Edward in unison and turned and walked out of the cafeteria.

Angela gawked at Edward as he moved toward me slowly and I looked at him with my brow furrowed in confusion. Edward cleared his throat.

"Bella, uhm…we've been dating or whatever…uh.. for almost 2 months now so uhm…I wanted to…," he stopped and looked up at me. Then, as if my mind and body had slowed down to half the pace as normal, along with Edward and everything around me, Edward wrapped his arms around my waist and looked me in the eyes for a moment before dipping his head and putting his lips on mine.

_The boy-god…just… kissed me._

_THE BOY GOD KISSED ME!!!_

I kept my eyes open for a fraction of a second before time sped up again and I closed them like Edward had and pressed my lips back on his. The kiss was over far too soon as Edward opened his eyes, hugged me, wished me a happy valentine's day one more time, then practically ran out of the cafeteria.

"Angela…," I whispered. She looked over at me with her eyebrows raised. "Did that just really happen," I questioned with two of my fingers over my lips. She nodded. I love my life.

That was until I remembered that the cafeteria wall facing the parking lot where all the parents picked us up after rehearsal, was made completely of glass. And, not only were other people's parents on that side of the glass, but my dad's black Jeep Grand Cherokee was also there waiting. I. was so. Screwed.

**

Once I had gotten home and been yelled at for kissing boys at too young an age, I had been grounded for the first time in my life. All of my telephone privileges were taken away and I had to tell my mother everything about Edward. How. Embarrassing.

When I got to school the next day Edward acted like nothing had happened and we did everything the same that we always did. It was Friday though, so there was no rehearsal and Edward walked me to my bus. He smiled at me with a renewed confidence I had never seen and hugged me close. Then he looked at me with his arms still around me and kissed me on the lips before hugging me again. I smiled at him when he was done and turned around and went on to my bus.

The next couple of weeks continued on in much the same fashion. Edward and I snuck in kisses only at the end of the school day and that was it. By the third week of kissing after school every day, and now that my being grounded was over, I was getting antsy again. I wanted to _really_ kiss Edward. But, he was as before, avoiding the situation. Without my prior knowledge the girls that my mother insisted I be friends with and take pictures with before dances, told Edward that he should just make out with me and get it over with. I was furious and thoroughly embarrassed. Edward had told them there was no way we would be making out any time soon, though and that broke my heart a little.

Was I not pretty enough? Did he not really have feelings for me? Was he starting to think about breaking up with me? What had I done wrong? I was a wreck.

During the 3rd week of March the High School Marching Band had a thing called "pre band camp" and this was for all the 8th graders interested in joining the band. I of course was insanely interested and wanted to be in the pit percussion. Edward decided he wanted to be in band with me too and as did our friend Mike. Mike was also in concert band with me and in the percussion section. Jessica also was in band and would be joining the High School's. She played the flute. And unfortunately for me Lauren also played an instrument and because of an older sibling had been in the marching band for a year already.

Hello more drama.

We may have started to get along but Lauren and I just clashed. We couldn't help it.

So, it was with a wary heart that Edward and I attended the "pre band camp" to learn the ways of the High School marching band. We were asked to show our abilities, which Edward had barely any of on percussion specifically. He knew all the notes and things on the keyboards, but had no idea how to hold a mallet. I, on the other hand, had been playing percussion for three years now and had a pretty good hang on it.

Mike didn't seem to be good at anything…poor guy.

After the week and pre band camp was over and Edward and I were signed up for the 2002-2003 marching band season, we split ways for the weekend. I thought that being in marching band together would keep Edward and me close. Being in an extra-curricular together means more time together, and that's what I really wanted. We weren't allowed to hang out at each other's houses because my parents insisted I was to young to date.

Unfortunately though, Edward and I just seemed to be drifting apart. He still kissed me after rehearsals and held my hand at school but our phone conversations were getting shorter and shorter. I was getting really nervous that Edward really had lost interest in me and was about to break up with me.

So, when Monday rolled around again and I was waiting in the cafeteria and Edward didn't sit next to me like he _always _did I got really worried.

Edward also didn't walk me to class, or hug me at all. He barely even looked at me.

After school, and during rehearsal Edward did sit next to me, but he wouldn't talk to me or hold my hand. I had to try very hard to keep myself from crying in front of the entire company. Angela looked worried too.

When rehearsal was over Edward grabbed my hand for the first time all day, but it wasn't with our fingers intertwined. It was more like my wrist that he grabbed, and he pulled me behind him to a secluded hallway without a word.

"Bella…we need to talk."

A/N: uh oh Bella…. If you wanna take a guess at what's gonna happen for our dear Bella and boy-god…leave a review. Or if you wanna just leave a nice little tidbit…leave a review. Let me know what you think. I'll have another update soon. Thanks for reading


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